Peace & Justice @ PMC

Portland Mennonite has a long history of advocacy for peace and justice in our city and in our world. These issues are kept at the center of our congregational life. Many of PMC’s Peace and Justice initiatives focus on aiding the homeless population. Homelessness is a major justice issue for our city, with upwards of 4,000 men, women and children in Portland being homeless at a time. The Justice Committee has a statement on homelessness that can be read here.

The organization was entirely volunteer run, and five individuals experiencing homelessness sold the paper as the first Street Roots vendors.

In 2015 Street Roots began publishing on a weekly basis and the award-winning newspaper is sold by 160 vendors in the Portland metro area.

The New City Initiative is a local organization that engages faith communities in ending the cycle of homelessness. Portland Mennonite has partnered with New City Initiative since 2013.Through New City Initiative’s Village Support Network, our congregation sponsors families as they transition out of homelessness and into permanent housing. Portland Mennonite provides teams of 4-6 members of the congregation, as well as a financial commitment for each family they are assigned. For six months, PMC’s Village Support Team works with the family, helping them pursue goals set by the family to help them achieve stability, satisfaction and empowerment in their new homes and communities. (See Oregonian article)

Portland Mennonite Church helps support theAnawim Christian Community, a church made up of the poor and outcast from “normal” society—the impoverished, the homeless, the mentally ill and those on public assistance. ACC holds low-key services and Bible studies, expecting interruption and questions throughout the services. ‘Anawim’ is a Hebrew word that means “The poor who depend on the Lord for deliverance.”